The Zika virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that was initially discovered in Uganda’s Zika forest in 1947. Before 2015, outbreaks of Zika virus infection had been restricted to some parts of Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific. In early 2015, a widespread outbreak of Zika fever, caused by the Zika virus detected in Brazil and subsequently spread to other parts of South and North America. Due to this, a number of countries issued travel warnings, and the outbreak will result in restricts tourism significantly. Furthermore, the outbreak raised concerns regarding the safety of athletes and viewers at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. This sudden outbreaks resulted in increased demand for Zika virus testing.

The virus can be transmitted from an infected pregnant woman to fetus, and causes microcephaly and other severe brain anomalies. This has prompted testing of pregnant women for Zika virus, further fueling the growth of the market. Besides this, government in different countries are taking initiatives in from of awareness campaigns, grants and funding for research to control this outbreak. Research institutes including NIH, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) are working with in collaboration with government, academia, and the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to better understand Zika virus. Also, UK government announced more than USD 4 million funding to research on Zika virus to various research institutes in the country.

Diagnosing Zika virus is difficult. Molecular tests are only reliable in the first two to three weeks after infection while the virus is circulating in the bloodstream. Antibody tests show cross-reactivity of antibodies to Zika with dengue, yellow fever, and Japanese encephalitis viruses and may give false positive results. Hence, more sensitive tests are needed and technologically advanced test launched by any market players holds enormous opportunity in this market. However, currently Zika virus testing kits are costly and are unavailable for majority of populations. This is restricting the market growth in underdeveloped and developing regions.

The Zika virus testing market is segmented based on technology, end user, and region. The Zika virus testing technologies include molecular and serology tests. Molecular tests are further categorized in PCR, NAT and other tests. Similarly, Serology test segment comprised ELISA and PRNT.

North America is expected to dominate the market in 2018, with the US accounting for a major share. However, Asia Pacific is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.